Toasted Coconut & Date Slice

The other weekend I had it in my mind that I wanted to bake a healthy slice. So I looked through all my recipe books and searched online, with no luck! Eventually I came across a date and coconut slice recipe from One Handed Cooks  but after pressing the mixture into the pan realised I had forgotten a key ingredient- the coconut! As it turns out, the coconut on the top of the slice rather than mixed in it turned out really well as it gave a lovely toasted coconut flavour. You'll notice there's no sugar in this recipe which is because the dates give a lovely natural sweetness without being over-powering. This slice makes a great healthy snack!

Toasted Coconut & Date Slice

1 C pitted dates, roughly chopped

½ C water

1 tsp lemon juice

1 C wholemeal plain flour

1 C rolled oats

¼ C flaked almonds

1.5Tbsp (30g) table spread, melted (or oil)

½ C apple puree

¼ C desiccated coconut (unsweetened)

1.       Preheat oven to 190°C. Line a 20cm square dish with baking paper.
2.       Put dates and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring     until the water is just absorbed and the dates are smooth.
3.       Remove date mixture from heat and add lemon juice and apple puree.
4.       Combine flour, oats, almonds and table spread or oil in a medium     sized bowl. Add dates and stir to combine.
5.       Press mixture in square dish and sprinkle with coconut. Bake for ~25 minutes or until slice is cooked and coconut is golden.

Makes 16 squares

Should you really be cutting foods from your diet?

There's been a lot of lively debate in the nutrition-sphere recently- both publicly and privately. And while I'm not going to open that can of worms here (as it's a complex topic and one which I can both agree and disagree with), I would like to discuss something else which I have seen quietly spring up alongside many of these new suggested ways of eating: dietary restrictions. And by this I mean the whole spectrum of 'free's'- dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, fructose free, fruit free, grain free, and so on and so forth…

Now, don't get me wrong, there are several health conditions that require the exclusion or reduction of food groups to prevent, manage or treat their symptoms- food allergies and intolerances being the most obvious ones. And even when there hasn't been a diagnosed nutrition issue or reason for diet manipulation, sometimes people just feel better when they don't eat something. Fair enough. We are the masters of our own bodies and we tend to pick up on the signals they're sending us better than anyone else.

But where the waters get a little murky is when you introduce outside influencers to this decision making process. I'm talking about media (new and old), the stories of friends of friends, various interpretations of new research (yes, believe it or not facts can be interpreted very differently by different people) by health professionals or celebrities that pull us along for the ride when there really was no issue in the first place. New diets can seem bright and shiny (like a new toy, perhaps?) and are sold to us with such fervour that we get washed up in the excitement of it all.

Before you know it we're doing our research on what foods to add to, and which ones to cut from, our trolleys, buying fancy kitchen equipment and shaking up our old recipe rut. This can be great! It can renew excitement in wholesome fresh foods and home cooking, reduce reliance of processed and packaged foods and get us more in touch with nature.

Unfortunately it doesn't always lead to a great, lifelong improvement in diet and overall health. What happens when you start having to cook separate meals for the rest of the family because they don't understand why they can't have good ol' spag bol anymore? Or you have to turn down social events because they're based around meals at restaurants which you know won't be able to cater to your special dietary requirements? Or you fall into a cooking rut because you don't really have time to make your own stock or ferment your own foods and you end up falling back on a few key meals that you know are on the 'good' list. Or the grocery bills start piling up because if you do buy anything packaged it must be organic and gluten free and dairy free and low in FODMAPs and no added sugar and no more than 3 ingredients, and not only does the shopping process take a lot longer, but these products always seem to cost a mint! And then you have to forgo that weekend away just to keep on top of it all. And worse still is that secretly, you don't think you really feel any different.

Now, I know this may seem like an over exaggeration to many, but these are the kinds of problems that CAN face normal people simply trying to follow the latest health advice. So MY advice is this: if you feel better by cutting back on carbs or excluding dairy or whatever, and you can happily and easily make these changes to your life, then enjoy! All the more power to you! But if you find yourself losing pleasure in food, or putting strain on your friendships or the hip pocket, then maybe you've taken it a little too far. Eat healthy, wholesome foods most of the time and that one slice of cake or bowl of pasta won't kill you, but it will make life more enjoyable. And isn't that important, too?

Beef and black bean stir-fry

Beef and black bean is a traditional Chinese dish, but you'd be hard pressed to find its star ingredient in your local supermarket. Sure you'll be able to find prepackaged 'black bean sauce' but I really wanted to make my own using the real thing. I managed to find fermented black beans (also called dried or salted black beans) in my local Asian grocer without much trouble at all. And the result was a lovely, easy, flavoursome dish with all the benefits of gut benefits of fermented beans, iron from beef, fibre from brown rice and a whole host of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals from a load of colourful veggies!

Beef and black bean stir-fry

500g beef eye fillet (or another lean cut), sliced

50g Chinese black beans, rinsed (found in an Asian grocer)

2 long red chillies, thinly sliced (remove seeds for a milder heat)

1.5 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp minced ginger

1 C reduced salt chicken stock

½ brown onion, thinly sliced

1 ¼ C long grain brown or white rice

2 dinner plates full of vegetables (~8 cups) e.g. broccoli, bok choy, carrots, beans, mushrooms, zucchini, cabbage etc

1. Cook rice in boiling water, drain.

2. Meanwhile, cook beef, chilli, ginger, garlic and black beans in a large frypan over medium-high heat until beef is well browned. Remove from frypan and keep warm.

3. Add onion to the pan and sauté over a medium heat until translucent. Add vegetables and cook until just tender. 

4. Lower to a simmer, add stock and return beef mix to pan, stirring until well coated and beef is heated through.

      4. Divide rice and stir-fry among dishes.

Serves 5-6

Recipe Index

I've posted quite a few recipes since I started this blog a year ago (yes I know, it's already been a year!) and sometimes I have clients or friends tell me they can't find a certain recipe. So I've put them all here in one place, divided into sweet and savoury! So browse to your heart's content :)

Sweet Recipes (breakfasts, desserts and snacks)

Homemade muesli bars

• My healthy homemade muesli bars
• Berry yoghurt & coconut balls
• Banana date loaf
• Rum balls
• Wholegrain berry pancakes
• Apple cinnamon crumble muffins
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Porridge from scratch
• Baked raspberry and barley mini puddings
• Strawberry, macadamia and oat muffins with sweet spices
• Lemon souffles
• Makeover: Lemon yoghurt cake
• Makeover: Pumpkin pie
• Makeover: Chocolate souffles 

Savoury Recipes (breakfasts, lunches and dinners)

Lentil 'meatballs'

• Stuffed capsicums
• Chilli-lime chicken with minted quinoa and Asian greens
• Vietnamese chicken pho (chicken noodle soup)
• Homemade basil pesto
• Ricotta and spinach stuffed chicken with white bean smash
• Beef and red wine pearl barley risotto
• Spicy tomato & bean baked eggs
• Homemade dumplings
• Lentil 'meatballs' with pasta, greens and lemon pesto sauce
• Chermoula spiced beer bread
• Makeover: Thai cashew nut beef stir-fry at home

Lemon Soufflés

So I've brought you my recipe for chocolate soufflés before (click here if you missed it), but even more simple are these lemon soufflés. Light as air with a super citrus tang, made from only lemons, egg whites, cornflour and a little bit of sugar. I have adapted these from a Donna Hay recipe and they make for a very impressive dessert! The recipe makes 3 large individual serves, but you could use smaller 3/4 cup ramekins and divide the mix amongst 4.

Lemon soufflés

1/3 C lemon juice

1 Tbsp castor sugar

¾ Tbsp cornflour

2 large eggwhites at room temperature

2 Tbsp castor sugar, extra

Icing sugar, to serve

1.      Combine lemon juice, 1 Tbsp castor sugar and cornflour in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for ~8mins or until thickened. Transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate until cold.
2.      Pre-heat oven to 180°C and prepare 3 x 1-C capacity ramekins by brushing lightly with margarine (or spraying lightly with oil) and dusting with castor sugar. Place on a baking tray.
3.      Beat eggwhites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Pour in extra castor sugar in a thin stream and beat until thick and glossy. Set aside.
4.      Beat lemon mixture from the fridge until smooth. Gently fold eggwhites into the lemon mixture.
5.      Spoon into prepared ramekins. Smooth the tops with a spatula and run a knife around the edge of each ramekin (to ensure the soufflés aren’t caught on the sugar and rise evenly).
6.      Bake for ~10-12mins or until the soufflés have risen and are just golden on top. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately (they will start to drop almost straight away once removed from the oven). 

Serves 3.

Fooditian: The new (more aptly named) title for trained foodies (AKA Dietitians)

 

I may have the word ‘diet’ taking up a significant portion of my professional title, but the truth is, I wish I didn’t. The word diet conjures up many negative connotations of restriction, guilt, hunger and images of boring, uninspiring food. And unfortunately, when client’s come to see me they often think that is what I’ll put them on. But that’s actually not what Dietitians are all about (would you ever have guessed?).

 

I like to educate people about healthy food, give them new recipes and meal ideas to try, get them excited about food and teach them how to decipher food labels so that they can choose healthier products themselves. I like to show people how to get in touch with their own body and listen to the signals it is sending them. Not actually hungry? Then don’t eat. Feeling full but enjoying a delicious meal? Then stop, save the leftovers for the next day and enjoy it twice! And believe it or not, we have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to medical conditions too. In fact, we studied ‘medical nutrition therapy’ or ‘clinical dietetics’ at university and have a good understanding of the relationship between food and the body (how does food impact on cholesterol, or blood pressure, blood sugar levels or energy levels, bowel function, or appetite, recovery from surgery or healing of wounds, body composition or athletic performance? We could tell you). Some of us even work in hospitals and determine tube feeds to sustain patients while they can’t eat for themselves, or in aged care and encourage higher calorie foods in malnourished older residents. So it isn’t all about weight loss. And heck, even in ‘weight loss’ cases, it isn’t all about weight loss.

 

 

The aim is to give someone the power to make their own decisions and to support them through that process. Sure, we can make suggestions, but ultimately it’s not up to us what actually goes into their mouth. In fact I try to avoid giving out meal plans because I know they aren’t going to be stuck to. And that’s ok! Food is about so much more than just fuel, or an energy in energy out equation, it’s about pleasure! Do you really want to miss out on a piece of cake on your birthday or order salad at a famous Italian pasta restaurant? I sure wouldn’t. Be flexible and be kind to yourself. Eat well most of the time and those few occasional treats aren’t going to do you any harm.

 

My tip? Stop focusing on the numbers on the scales. Focus on you, how you feel and the health benefits associated with your healthy lifestyle. Want to find out more about food and how it affects you? Speak to a Dietitian- it’s what we do! Or maybe we should change our title to Fooditian (do you think it’ll catch on?).

Chermoula spiced beer bread

There's something very satisfying about making your own bread, especially the smells that come wafting out of your kitchen while it's baking! I wanted to start with a relatively easy recipe that I could flavour with a new chermoula spice mix I'd discovered in a spice appreciation class (see here for more on this). So I cast my mind back to food technology in high school when we'd made beer bread (I know, beer in school? Surely that's not allowed now!). Now, I'm no lover of beer, or any alcohol really, but when it comes to cooking and you're left with just the flavours, it seems to work so well! Not to mention, the yeast in the beer helps this bread to rise beautifully.

I served my bread with chermoula-rubbed lamb and onion
skewers, grilled vegetables (capsicum, eggplant, zucchini,
mushrooms and spinach) and tzatziki and hummus on
the side- delicious!

Chermoula is a North African spice blend made of cumin, paprika, onion, turmeric, cayenne, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and coriander leaves. It goes really well with grilled meats and vegetables and gives a spicy Moroccan flavour. If you don't have access to chermoula, any other herb or spice mix will do, or the bread can be just as good without any other flavour additions (as it lets the beer shine through).

Chermoula spiced beer bread

3 ¼ C plain wholemeal flour

330mL bottle of beer (dark ale recommended), at room temperature

1 tsp dry instant yeast

1-2 tsp salt

Optional: 1.5 Tbsp chermoula or other herb or spice mix

 1. Combine flour, yeast, salt and chermoula (if using) in a large bowl. Run beer bottle under a tap of running hot water for a few minutes to warm. Add to bowl and stir gently to combine.

2. Knead dough on a floured surface and return to bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for at least 1 hour.

3. Punch down mixture (press with your fist a couple of times) to get rid of any large air bubbles. Again, cover and let rise for at least 2 hours or refrigerated overnight.

4. Form dough into a loaf and place on a lined baking tray. Sprinkle the top with plain flour and slash with a knife (forming 1 vertical line or 3 angled lines). Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 230°C.

5. Put 8-10 ice cubes in a tray and place at the bottom of the oven (this will humidify the oven allowing a nice crunchy crust to form on the bread). Put bread tray on the middle rung of the oven and bake for 20-35mins or until the bread has risen and the crust is nicely browned.

6. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Makes ~15 small slices.